RWBY future AU, The Great War
by zachlorthan
Summary: the gang is all together, and (somewhat) grown up. blood, guts, romance, smut, fighting, plot, more plot, real plot. REPLACED, UPDATED, EXTENDED first three chapters. more will follow. first chapter has been fixed/extended. Chapter 3 is a teaser chapter. Iwraps up the things I plan to focus on. Next chapter will introduce my ocs from the Zach xiao story.
1. The Beginning

Ruby gave a wild cry as she swung her scythe, her voice full of anguish as she struggled to reach her comrade. She had seen Weiss go down under the tidal wave of Beowulfs that had ambushed them. The sound of Yang's gauntlets, Ember Celica, rang out repeatedly, her voice angry as she fired shot after shot. She had to be nearly out of ammo, but in her enraged state of mind, she no longer cared. Blake spun fluidly through the clumsy creatures that fell under her swift but sure blows, keeping back the monsters that threatened to overrun Yang, who cared little that they were so close to death. She mashed her fist into the gut of an overzealous Beowulf, it's back blowing out as the Dust covered buckshot punched through the flesh. Blake tried to snap her out of it.  
>"Yang, we need to move, now."<br>"YOU WANT SOME, YOU MOTHERFUCKINGPEICESOFSHIT!" was Yang's only response. she was too deep in her anger.  
>Blake tried one last time, "Yang-" but she was cut off as Yang dove past her, her gauntlets slamming down onto the head of one of the Grimms. the Grimm exploded.<p>

A foul stench filled the air as Grimm flesh flew, dissolving as it went. The stench and some small bits of flesh remained. Blake flinched slightly as a bit of skin smacked her in the face. In the moment of distraction, one of the Beowulfs got a shot in, throwing her back. She landed at Yang's feet, and their eyes met. Blake found herself hypnotized by the solid amber color of her partner's rage-filled eyes. Yang leaped over her, tackling the Beowulf, straddling it's chest and punching it's face repeatedly. It was dissolving even as she continued to punch, and Blake had to drag her off the carcass. She jumped back as Yang almost swung at her, her vision blurred by her anger, and Blake wondered briefly which one had touched her hair.

Ruby reached Weiss, her scythe spinning as she flung back the creatures that stood over her partner. Luckily, Weiss's aura had held, just. She reached down, lifting Weiss, who winced at the pressure on her arm. Ruby had her in a death grip.

She shrugged her off, shouting "I told Yang it was a bad idea to go this way!" Her rapier, Myrtenaster, flashed in her hand, and a line of fire incinerated half a dozen of the beasts.  
>Ruby merely shook her head, resigned to her best friend's capabilities for shrugging off the horror of seconds before. "come on, lets get back to Blake and Yang" she said, fighting her way through the shallow group of enemies that had closed in between her and her team mates. Blake had managed to widen a circle around Yang, and Ruby and Weiss slid into it, the four girls going back to back. Yang cocked her gauntlets, the spent shell casings flying out with a resounding 'ping', before burying themselves in the snow at her feet, the semi-liquid hissing at the touch of the hot metal.<p>

She had calmed the slightest bit, and she loaded her last belts into the gauntlets, realizing that she had wasted too much on the few she had actually managed to kill. Blake dropped the empty magazine from Gambol Shroud's hilt, sliding in another as she assessed the situation. She was glad, in a way, that she might go out this way, fighting along side her one and only family, although it was bittersweet, her one wish, her only real desire, having gone unsaid. Weiss was calculating, trying to decide if she should use what little Dust she had left to try carving a path through the creatures, but she knew she didn't have enough. Ruby was calm, and began to call the situation.

"Yang, I want you and Weiss to focus on finding the Alpha. This is a feral pack, meaning the Alpha will be the only one with armor. Blake, use your whip mode to cut down anything that gets close. I'm going to take down what I can from here. Go!"

Yang nodded, shouting "I'm on it, sis!" as she took off, using twin blasts from her gauntlets to launch herself into the air, landing on a glyph that appeared beneath her. Weiss made a ring of glyphs around the crowd, and Yang began to dash along them, her eyes scanning the massive crowd of black fur and red eyes. Whenever she saw a plausible target, she fired a concentrated round at it, killing it and wounding anything within 3 feet of the blast.

Ruby dug the blade of Crescent Rose into the snow at her feet, and began to fire from a standing position, Beowulfs falling in scores as the bullets passed through at least three before slowing in velocity. The Beowulfs made a second advance, pushing forward to try and rip the girls to shreds. Blake began her complex motions, Gambol Shroud blazing in her hands as she flung it, cutting into a mature male Beowulf, the pistol in the hilt going off with it's usual almighty bang, flinging the blade the opposite direction as Blake began to dance with it, the blade slicing beast after beast to ribbons.

Yang saw the Alpha, huddled in the middle of a group of large males, and she cocked her arm to fire. But before she could, a Beowulf leaped up underneath her like a shark, slashing it's claws through the glyph, ripping apart. Yang's shot went wild, slamming into the ground at Weiss's feet, then blowing up in her face. Weiss was thrown backwards, barely managing to keep her balance as she slid to a stop. Yang fell towards the crowd of Beowulfs below her, spinning in the air as she redirected her blasts straight down. The explosive metal peppered the Beowulfs, blowing them to pieces, but she felt the slight unhappy vibration in her wrists as her gauntlets ran dry, the last of her ammunition wasted.

'fuck' was her only thought as she back flipped along the ground, stopping next to Weiss. Weiss was not happy, the edges of her pony tail was singed, and she shouted "watch where you point those things, you dolt."  
>back at Beacon, such a comment would have sent Yang into an explosive rage, but now the words were hollow, a shadow of a habit. Her voice was dry, trembling from exhaustion. "Pay more attention to the enemy, then." was Yang's reply, her attempt at a snarl coming across as an exasperated wheeze.<p>

Ruby flinched as she heard the audible click that meant she had miscounted how many rounds she had fired. She dropped the spent magazine, reaching for another only to remember that it had been her last. She readied herself to go close quarters, but could already feel her muscles burning from exhaustion.  
>They had been on the road for months, and none of the group had had a decent nights rest in more than 2 weeks. Suddenly, she found herself wondering if it was the end. 'One stupid mistake, and I get my entire team, and remaining family, killed' she thought to herself, raising her scythe to strike at the incoming hoard. But before she had the chance, something blazed above her head, and she heard a familiar sound. Almost unable to believe it, she looked up, seeing something that was much more terrifying than the sea of Grimm creatures bearing down on her.<p>

Nora came streaking down from a tree, giving a wild laugh as she brought her hammer down on top of a Beowulf, crushing it into the world's largest (and most disgusting) pancake. Right behind her was Ren, Storm Flowers blazing as they fired Dust rounds at cycling rate Ruby had never been able to duplicate. Scores of Beowulfs fell under the withering hail of explosive ammunition. Pyrrha followed soon after, her spear and shield, Miló and Akoúo, in the form of a Roman Gladius, glinting in the dying light of the evening sun as it decapitated three Grimm in a single blow. a single Grimm rose up behind her, claws raised as it prepared to slash, but Ruby jumped onto it's back, scythe glimmering in the remaining sunlight as it crashed down onto the Beowulfs skull, crushing its head.

Pyrrha gave a nod of thanks, then turned back. The hoard had dwindled, but was still of formidable size. Nora swung her hammer with both grace and tenacity, crushing Grimms with ease under the heavy instrument. Ren danced around her, always covering her back. His guns shifted in his hands, and suddenly he was holding a pair of long knives. This was a surprise to the members of RWBY. It hadn't done that back at Beacon. he showed unsurprising skill while wielding the deadly blades. Nora's erratic, yet powerful moves looked quite plain next to his graceful, spinning slashes and stabs. Yang and Blake jumped in with them, and the quartet began to push their way through the dwindling pool of enemies.

Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha held together in a tight group, with Weiss in the middle, shooting out various elements from her sword, while Ruby and Pyrrha fought around her, cutting through the Grimms. Ruby was beginning to get her second (or was it her seventh?) wind. her arms were no longer trembling, and she found she had the strength to use some of her more acrobatic moves. She slammed the blade point into the icy ground, the whole scythe spinning like a fast forward watch hand while she hung from the handle, feet slamming into Grimms as she spun past them. with an expertly timed lash, she sent one flying, landing an the end of Pyrrha's sword.

suddenly something huge and heavy grabbed Ruby's foot as she tried to complete her maneuver. She found herself being lifted straight up, then slammed down onto the snow covered ground, her breathe whooshing out, her lungs crumpling like a plastic bag on the end of a vacuum hose. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she felt something hard, cold, and very, very sharp pressed against her throat. she could just make out the Alpha male of the pack standing over her, it's white and red armor its most notable feature. its eyes burned with a conscious hatred, handed down through its fore fathers. it opened its mouth, preparing to either howl or bite. Ruby shut her eyes, calm spreading over her. She had time to open them again, knowing she could do nothing.  
>"UNHAND HER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"<br>something white and silver shot past Ruby, the entire length of Myrtenaster sliding neatly into the top of the Grimms skull. A single miniature glyph spun silently at the end of it's hilt. 20 yards away, Weiss stood unarmed, breathing hard, a look of utter and complete rage decorating her beautiful features. It was the one emotion she had never displayed. at least not on this level. Ruby had a detached thought. 'she is a lot scarier than I thought'. It was a rather bizarre moment.

Ruby stood, looking around at the remains of the ambush which had turned into a route.  
>In minutes, the tables had turned, the two teams managing to fight off the assault. The last Grimm was nothing more than a melting shadow at Yang's feet, who's eyes were returning to their usual violet color. The two teams converged, smiles on their faces as they exchanged the greetings that had gone unsaid for almost a year.<p>

"Long time, no see," Yang said, hugging Pyrrha and Nora, who reciprocated warmly. Ren stayed silent, but his smile was large and genuine. Ruby followed her sister's lead, hugging the three saviors, while Weiss huffed, saying "we could have handled it... But thanks anyway, I guess." Blake hugged them all and said "it's good to see you, but why are you away from the front lines? And how did you know where to find us?"  
>Pyrrha responded, saying "when Yang called ahead and mentioned you were coming this way, we decided to try to meet you en route. But then we heard the shots, and rushed here as quickly as we could. Looks like it was just in time, too. It is a good thing Yang's gauntlets are so loud."<br>Ruby nodded, feeling both the physical and emotional drain from the battle telling her to sleep. To block out the voice, she asked "where's Jaune?"  
>"He's still on the front lines. Kinda hard to get away when your the general of an army" Nora said, flicking a piece of Grimm fur from her shoulder. Her skin was flushed from the exertion of the fight, and the look behind her eye was almost fevered. Yang caught the scent of Nora's favorite pre-battle drink, a shot of Grimm's Blood, one of the most potent alcohols developed by human hands, on her breath. She winced, realizing that Nora would be more than a little unpredictable for the next 8 hours.<p>

Ren nodded, saying "we will take you to him. He'll be glad to see you."  
>Then Weiss noticed the glinting gold band on Pyrrha's finger. "He proposed?" The question was sprung as much from surprise as happiness. Pyrrha nodded, a happy, but restricted smile spreading across her face. "I'm as surprised as you are. I thought I was going to have to do it."<br>Ruby picked up on the tone in her voice, a strange tension that was unlike pyrrha. "Is something wrong?" she asked. Pyrrha responded with "you'll see for yourself."  
>The mood turned somber as the newcomers took in the sight of team RWBY. Their clothes were heavily torn and patched, streaks of blood from Grimm knew how many sources splattered across them and their meager belongings. Yang had a slight limp in her leg and a soiled cloth bandage tied around her thigh, and Ruby had numerous smaller bandages covering rips and slashes in her older outfit (merely an altered version of her outfit from when they had been in school). It was obvious they had been an the road for a long while, too long. Even Weiss's usually perfect getup was crisscrossed with all manner of gore.<p>

in a way, they actually looked quite... Noble, was the only word Pyrrha could come up with. They looked like they had actually been fighting the war, unlike many of the soldiers in the 'posh' positions, protecting the important people. they looked like hell, but they also looked like they kicked hell's ass.  
>Together, the 2 groups headed back to the army's main camp.<p>

It had been only two years since their graduation and departure from Beacon. Upon graduating, unlike many groups, RWBY and JNPR had chosen to stay together, splitting the money from jobs and living relatively close together in one town or other. a downside to the Hunter's life was constant moving throughout the world, following each job as it came by. They were never home sick, although that in itself made them sad, since none of them ever really had a home in the first place. Since their uncle Qrow was a huntsman, he shared their current life style. Before losing contact, he had been in Haven.

But last summer, a new threat had emerge, one unlike any they had seen. A young man, known only as Grimm's Disciple, had appeared in Vale, and had begun preaching that in one month's time, a small town on the outer reaches of the kingdom, named Frontier, would fall to a Grimm attack. After a week, he had begun to develop a following, and preachers began to appear all over the city.

With the deadline approaching, team RWBY had decided to visit the town, if only to dispel the rumors. They arrived on the day of the proposed attack, and horror was waiting to greet them. A massive convergence of Grimm creatures held sway over the town, Grimms from nearly every land and sky based family raging as they tore the town to shreds. But the most shocking part was that the Grimms had riders, saddles, even man-made augmentations to their natural armor. And over the entire scene flew a massive Grimm, a Night Scream, a dragon type Grimm of proportions unseen in the last century. And on its back was the boy, the first disciple.

Team RWBY and a large group of soldiers and Hunters had managed to retake the village, but not before hundreds had died.

In the week following the attack, letters were delivered to every man and woman with any governmental power, stating that the attack was the first of many, and that it was lead by the Descendants of Grimm's Blood, a group of extremists that had long been benign, thought of as merely a group of fanatics. Apparently, the group had found a boy with the power to command Grimm, as if it was an army at the whims of it's king. Their goal was to destroy humanity, ending its reign and ushering in a world of darkness for the Children of Grimm.

Immediately, a contingency of Hunters were assigned to join the military and fight off the threat. But the Descendants were cunning, hiding in the wild and ambushing the army, stealing supplies and attacking with massive waves of Grimm, creatures that hadn't been seen in hundreds of years, others that had long since been written off as either mythical or harmless. It was also discovered that prey faunus were susceptible to the manipulation, and it was often used to turn soldiers against each other. When an attack had killed the current generals, team JNPR was drafted to lead the army. Jaune had matured a lot since their first year at Beacon. He was less scrawny, more muscled, and his voice had deepened considerably. Though he was still far from the brilliant strategist he wanted to be, with the help of his team, the army was treading water instead of drowning.

The group reached the camp, which was hardly the word for it. Massive walls, topped with automated and manual weapon systems, ringed the man made fortress in the center. It was 20 stories tall, giving it an impressive view of the surrounding plain. The top was a look out tower, no doubt rigged to an alarm system. The entire thing was covered in windows, offering some comfort for those who disliked being inside. the entire thing was a monument to the utter and complete power of the military.

But after a few moments, the team began to notice things. The fortress had not been faring well in the war. Several of the automated weapons were in pieces, soldiers carrying them to other guns for replacing older parts. Many of the windows on the fortress were shattered, some with soot blackening the area above them, obvious signs of a massive fire. A section of the wall was heavily patched, trying to reinforce the weakening structure. Many of the soldiers sported injuries, and all had haggard looks on their faces.

Ren lead the way into the main building, opening a set of massive double doors that lead into a sort of atrium. it in itself was 2 stories tall, plain gray walls raising up, a walkway ringing the second story, black metal doors closing off unimportant or empty rooms. The smells of old food and steam where coming from the mess hall, where soldiers had just finished dinner. Blake winced at the strong smells that invaded her advanced senses. The two teams continued to a room at the very center of the building, in which stood Jaune and a gathering of advisers and assistants. Personal combat model guard robots stood in each of the corners, watching carefully over the proceedings.

"We know where they were, and we know where they might go, but we have no idea where they ARE!"  
>Jaune growled in frustration, slamming a fist down on the battle map that spread out before him. Ruby winced, she had never heard him that angry. Pyrrha cleared her throat, and the blond knight turned. Ruby couldn't contain the gasp. A heavy, pronounce scar now marred Jaune's face, traveling from the corner of his right eye, down along his jawline to come to a stop at his neck, just off the hollow of his throat. Jaune smiled, but was obviously less than pleased at her reaction.<p>

"Hey guys. Been a while, huh?"  
>The uncertainty, usually front and center in his voice, had long since left, replaced with a mellow, soothing quality, which in turn was hedged by a sharp, defiant tone. His sword, Crocea Mors, was still belted to his waist, his armor unchanged even after so many years, but even with the material similarities, he was so different. He was half a foot taller, his muscle mass having grown as well. Though he would never hold the same skill level as Pyrrha, he was also no longer helpless with his blade, and there was an assurance to his steps that cried of hours of training.<p>

"Hey, it has, hasn't it? When we heard you were made a general, we decided to give you some time. I wish we had known just how long, but, you know how it goes." Ruby found she spoke quit naturally despite Jaune's facial mar. She attributed it to the years she had spent talking with Weiss. "How are we doing in this fight?"  
>"About as well as can be expected. We have them on the run, but they know this terrain about as well as anyone can. We were considering pulling back and guarding the borders, but then they hit us hard. Almost killed me." His hand traveled the length of his scar, his face brooding. Then he smiled again.<p>

"Where are my manners. Come on, we have some catching up to do."  
>He dismissed his advisers, and the 2 teams took seats around the table, the scale battle map retracting into the table, solid looking panels closing less than an inch above the top of the miniature fortress. Pyrrha sat next to Jaune, and his face immediately eased. It was obvious that he had become head-over-heels for her. Ruby knew it started shortly after the inter-school dance their first year, and she felt an odd ache mixed with her happiness. Her thoughts turned briefly to her own inner turmoil about her current relationship with... but she couldn't bring herself to go there.<p>

A ragged hole had been torn in her chest by her own feelings, her heart carved out and handed unfairly to a certain tsundere that was less than 4 feet away. Her fantasies often used the word princess instead of heiress, but the same feelings couldn't be ignored. She blushed scarlet as one of her more vivid imaginings invaded her mind. Yang noticed, but kept her peace, striking up an animated discussion with Nora.

"So, whats going on in your life, Nor?"  
>The nickname from their second year visibly made her perk, and she let out a loud laugh, saying "well, shortly after we left school, I manged to convince a certain someone that I wasn't following him around for fun. We all know he can't take a hint to save his life, and..." she continued on, her bubbling about finally getting Ren to notice how she felt about him (she said she had locked the two of them in a room for 4 hours before he figured it out. Yang thought she was joking until she saw the somewhat sour look spread over Ren's face,) enough to capture Blake's attention. Weiss was carefully examining Juane's face out of the corner of her eye. It was easier then she thought, sitting on his right, and she managed to get a view of the entire line of the scar. It started at the curve of his eye, ripping down the side of his cheek to the top of his jawline, cutting down half his jawline, then curving down to stop at the edge of his throat.<p>

Blake listened to Nora's ramblings, which had somehow wondered into a new modification she had made to her hammer, Magnhild, which allowed it to rapid fire it's grenades. Apparently, it had been Ren's idea, and Nora had convinced him to make a slight modification of his own. His Storm Flowers could now collapse, and transform into twin knives. Though it wasn't anything overly outstanding, it was huge that she had managed to get him to do anything to his precious weapons. Blake thought briefly of a modification she had made to Gambol Shroud, in a subtle attempt to make her feelings know. She had failed miserably, and her feelings were still secret. Her sword could now collapse into a slightly over-sized forearm band. It was bulky, it was uncomfortable, it was impractical.

But she continued to wear it, weakly clinging to the thought that maybe a certain someone would catch on. She had never been an expert on relationships, and the few she had had were worse train wrecks than just about anything she had ever heard of. She shuddered as she thought briefly about how it had ended with Velvet. She drifted from the conversation as her mind went unconsciously to Adam. Her teacher, her friend (she had thought), and her (briefly) boy friend. The relationship had been more for convenience than anything. They had both had their lonely insides, their hollowness. They had tried to fill it with a meaningless relationship. She had left before anything... physical, had happened. She found a slight flush creeping up her neck as that thought flashed through her mind.

Jaune had started talking to Ruby, saying "I was thinking that when all this is finally over, we can all get together for a more, appropriate, reunion. It's been so long since we've had anytime to really catch up. What have you been up to? We lost track of you when you were headed for quadrant 7. What happened?"  
>"We were heading after the Grimm that tore through Hevail. It led us into a trap, and our bag that had most of our communication equipment in it was eaten. When we were on our way back, we managed to find a working 2-way in whats left of Johntown. That's when Yang contacted you. We managed to corner the beast in a valley in the eastern corner of the quadrant. It took us 5 hours to bring the damn thing down."<p>

Pyrrha asked "what type of Grimm was it?"  
>"Don't know. It was a drakon type, you know, dragons without wings? But it was different than most. It was huge, for one thing, but it was really lightly armored. It seemed like it relied on speed over power. It had massive stamina. We only killed it because it finally tired out. That and Weiss managed to freeze 2 of it's legs." She giggled slightly, then stopped.<br>The sound was slightly unnatural, and she was surprised that just mentioning Weiss was enough to draw such a reaction from her. Weiss, luckily, was engrossed in a talk with Jaune about how his scar had healed. Ruby glanced at her sideways, engraving the sight of her into her memory, her posture, her clothes, her skin... her face.

Pyrrha snapped her fingers at Ruby, the sound being louder than she meant it. Everyone turned to look at her, then followed her gaze to Ruby, who sat, suddenly mortified that she was looking directly into Weiss's eyes. She stood abruptly, her hands clenching as she bared her teeth, trying to control her emotions. Through her teeth, she said "is there a place where I can change? I'd like to put on my last clean outfit."

Jaune answered before anyone could ask what was wrong. She was surprised that he had picked up on her tone. He was obviously more mature than when they had first met. He said "out the door, turn left, take the elevator to the third floor, first door on the left is a shower room, first door on the right is a two-person bedroom."  
>She nodded curtly, then sprinted from the room. Yang half stood in her seat, but Weiss held up a hand, saying "I'll go. She's been acting off for several weeks. I want to know why." Yang nodded, retaking her seat. Weiss left the room, looking towards the elevators in time to see Ruby hitting the 3rd floor button. Their eyes met, and Weiss stopped cold. Their was an uncompromising look on her face, one that was filled with both unwavering hate and extensive pain. Weiss was frozen in place for what seemed like an eternity. Then the door closed, and it was like Weiss was released from some sort of spell.<p>

She could move again, but she didn't want to. She felt suddenly weak in the knees. But she knew if she didn't check on Ruby, she might not be able to. She walked slowly to the elevators, making sure Ruby's was already at the third floor before calling one. She thought to herself 'what the hell is wrong with her now?' as she waited, her fear turning to anger as she considered what she had seen. Not only was Ruby in some sort of pain, she was refusing to tell her team about it. She spent the whole elevator ride getting more and more frustrated. As the doors finally dinged open, she was seething. She was surprised that she was as angry as she was.

She stood between two doors, trying to decide which one her partner was hiding behind. After a second, she heard the shower going behind the door on the left. She opened it, too angry to think about knocking. The sight that greeted her was somewhere between terrifying and absolutely beautiful.

Ruby stood in her underwear, bent slightly over the tub of an over-sized shower, one finger daintily testing the water, steam curling up and around her slim frame. Her skin was a creamy pale, not quite as light as Blake's or Weiss's, but nowhere near her older sister's light tan. With her back to Weiss, her chest was hidden, but, despite having seen it before, something about the situation was sending a heavy blush towards Weiss's face. But that wasn't what drew her immediate attention. No, the thing that terrified her was the look on Ruby's face. It was drawn back in a human interpretation of a wolf's snarl, her eyes livid with some incomprehensible emotion.

After a moment, she straightened, walking slowly towards Weiss. Weiss had never been scared of Ruby before, but now she took an unsteady step back, iron bands closing around her chest as she tried to breathe, the fear seizing her mind, her body refusing to move correctly. Having closed the door behind her, she felt her back press hard against the cool metal door. Ruby was less than 2 steps away.

Weiss tried to apologize, saying "I'm sorr-mph!"  
>Ruby had thrust her lips hard against Weiss's, and she froze. She had never expected this, not in a million years. She didn't know what to do. If it had been anyone else, she would have panicked or fought, but she found herself not wanting to fight her off, not wanting to end it. So she settled for nothing. Her body stayed limp as she felt her lips being pushed around, felt, a little less than timidly, by Ruby's. After a moment, Ruby pulled away, turning her back and just standing there. Unable to decide what to say, Weiss turned and left. If she had stayed only 2 seconds more, she would have seen the tears racing down Ruby's face.<p> 


	2. Confessions (almost)

Weiss sank slowly to the ground, her back to the solid, and hopefully soundproof, door to the shower room. She felt utterly numb. How could she? After all this time, just when she was getting over her, she went and kissed her? What kind of sick torture was that? Slowly, Weiss could feel the hollowness in her chest returning, her feelings suddenly raw and fresh, like an open wound. She felt the brief heat of building tears just before they overflowed, her face still passive and calm despite her inner conflict. She tried to reason it to herself, that she had hallucinated, that it was just a dream or vision brought on by repressed emotions and lack of sleep. But she could still feel Ruby's perfect lips, pressing against her own. Soft, urgent, hungry...

Despite her immediate feelings to the situation, Weiss couldn't hold back the slight elation at this sudden turn of events. She had thought, during their time at Beacon, that she was being more than clear, what with her attitude, the way her eyes always lingered on her, the subtle hints she had dropped, over and over again until she was sure that Ruby was merely ignoring her, not wanting to upset her by turning her down. She had been so sure that Ruby hadn't been interested that she went out of her way to try and pull some sort of reaction out of her partner. It was well known around the school that Weiss was a lesbian. In fact, several times a few people had ended up in the hospital wing (and once, in the ER), having suffered unexplained wounds indicative of Dust usage. The victims had never said anything, but it was noted that all of them carefully avoided a certain heiress after their injuries, despite many of them having been quite active in various forms of teasing prior to their injuries.

her sexual choices had always brought her to the attention of people like Cardin, who, shortly after finding out that fact, had gone out of his way to make her miserable. It was even worse when he over heard her talking about who she wanted to be with. he had almost, almost, managed to reveal it to the whole school. Unfortunately for him, Weiss found out he was secretly a faunus fetishist, after snooping through his room. a locked trunk full of faunus porn and other, nastier things, had been enough to convince him to back off. Of course, her father hadn't been as easy to deal with.

She grimaced as her thoughts turned to the last time she had seen her family. Her father had called her back to the estate shortly after her graduation. He had said that, now that she was a huntress, she should be trying to protect the company, trying to find out who would take over beside her. She had misunderstood his meaning in the words, and she had accidentally let slip her fixation on her partner, Ruby. Her father had gone into such a rage, she was almost afraid he would have a heart attack. He had had the audacity to ORDER her to stay away from Ruby, to find a young, rich, and smart boy who would take over with her.  
>Weiss, obviously, disagreed.<br>In short, she had told her father where he could stick the family business, then stormed out. Her father, whether he was trying to make amends or trying to prove her wrong, was now heavily invested in the war, supplying weapons, food, and Dust in such quantities she was sure her father would rather bankrupt the family than be snubbed so successfully by his own daughter. She winced as the look on her sister's face flashed in her mind.

She had dated a large handful of other girls around the school, trying to get some sort of reaction from Ruby, anything, really. Few ever got serious, and only one had reached the physical high that was called sex. She smiled bitterly as she recalled her brief fling with Nora, the 2 of them having been drunk enough not to know or care what exactly they were doing, and Nora, either choosing to ignore it, or so drunk she had forgotten about it, avoided the subject on principle. It had been bittersweet, excellent, exhilarating, yet hollow. The 2 had avoided each other for a few weeks after the incident. Yang had weeded through her girlfriends when she dumped them, nabbing the ones she wanted. There was probably a therapist in vale making a lot of money off the girls she and Yang had gone through.

She had been with another few since graduating, but those were merely attempts to drown her feelings for Ruby, instead of trying to get her attention. none of them ever worked, though she was actually trying. But life as a Huntress was often to stressful for those who didn't share it. And the other huntresses she had been with all had their own missions and lives, and without communications, long distance relationships never worked out. In the end, she had begun to resign herself to a life of loneliness, spent standing next to her fixation.

When they had finally left Beacon, she was starting to get over her. Of course, her feelings remained, and she felt a near physical pain every time she looked at Ruby, but she was beginning to know there was no place for her by Ruby's side, at least not as anything more than a friend. And yet, now, suddenly it was a possibility. She stood, feeling an overwhelming sense of confidence at the sudden realization. She felt a smile tug at her lips, raising her hands and drying her eyes. She could hear, (barely) the sound of the shower being turned off. She stepped back, preparing to confront Ruby when she stepped out. she managed a genuine smile, ready to great her friend, but fate had other plans.

A ding sound not far to her right distracted her. The elevator opened, and out stepped the 6 people she least wanted around. Yang took in the look on her devastated face, then opened her mouth to ask the one question Weiss knew she didn't want to hear. But before she could, Ruby shoved the door open, slipping past Weiss, her face hidden from her as she slipped into the room across the hall, the door slamming behind her.

Weiss was abashed, trying to figure out what had gone so wrong so fast. Yang had clamped her mouth shut as she saw Ruby, but gave Weiss a hard look. Of course. Big Sis would automatically assume it was Weiss's fault. She sighed to cover her own gloomy mood, then said "I'm heading to bed too. If it's alright, Yang, would you share a room with me? I'd like to finish the paper work for the last assignment, and I think there are still some papers that need your signature."

Yang was already nodding, striding forward and latching on to Weiss's arm with a (some what) forgivable amount of force, steering her into the bedroom next door. As soon as the door was closed, she roughly shoved Weiss forward, saying "what the hell did you do? I've never seen her look that way. Even after dad died."

She flinched slightly at the memory, of the messenger finding them halfway through a particularly difficult assignment, giving them a hand written note from Ozpin himself, explaining how their father had suffered a heart attack. Ruby had been depressed, her usual animated personality crushed by the loss. She had always helped take care of her father. The poor man would lose his hands if they weren't attached to him. The family dog was with professor Oobleck at the moment, who had been more than happy to study 'such an excellent example of canine personality and exuberance' while they were visiting team JNPR.

Weiss straightened, saying "I didn't do anything, not this time."  
>"Then what happened?"<br>"Well, I guess its a long story, or maybe not, but the short of it is that your sister just... she... well, she kissed me."  
>Yang was quiet for the moment, then her face contorted as she tried to express elation, confusion, and reservation all at once.<br>"And what did you do?"  
>"Nothing. I didn't know what to do. You remember i used to be all over her, but she never reciprocated. Well, I thought I was over her. Then, when she kissed me, it all came rushing back. I wanted to do something, ANYTHING, but I couldn't. So I sort of... left."<br>"What do you mean, you left?"  
>"I walked out of the room. I left."<br>"And you didn't think it would HURT HER?!"

Weiss flinched as Yang's voice shot straight up in pitch, the way it always did when she was either drunk, bordering on hysterics, or angry as hell. Weiss shook her head, trying to get a grip on the situation before Yang spontaneously combusted (again). "I tried to go back in. I really was about to confront this, until you all came up in the elevator. You interrupted me, otherwise I would have followed Ruby. I want to tell her how I feel. I want to except her confession, and make one of my own. But I... I'm not sure what to do. Please, help me?"

She felt surprise inside as she begged, but she knew there was no one better to ask. Yang had the most experience out of all of them with relationships. She, like her sister, was bisexual, but unlike her sister, insisted that anyone she laid her eyes on, anyone that caught her fancy, was going to be hers, at least until the novelty wore off. She had been with more people than even she cared to admit, including both Nora and Pyrrha. She had kept out of the immediate team for the most part, although there had been a small period of time that Weiss had seen her eying Blake.

Yang glared at her, but the hot glow that surrounded her cooled a bit. She said "I'm not sure if you deserve my sister, but its obvious she wants you. Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. Shes been throwing you the same flags you tossed at her since before graduation. I'd say the 2 of you are exceedingly unobservant. Anyway, the only thing I can tell you is that Ruby is really torn after your reaction. that's the reason she shut down like that. She did the same thing back in both Signal and Beacon. When you approach her, do it carefully, and be ready for anything. She could very well snap, and as you've seen, that isn't a pretty sight. She's spent most of her life hiding from or rejecting her feelings. Also, don't do anything tonight. If you try to fix this now, you will break her. She needs some time to cool."

Weiss nodded, then headed into the adjoining room to change. Though she had always felt comfortable enough around the whole team, changing in front of just one somehow sent shivers down her spine, and not the good ones. But as she was about to close the door behind her, she heard Yang call out, "and if you hurt her again, Weiss, by accident or otherwise, your future will get a whole lot more complicated than a few Grimm." Weiss swallowed hard at the threat, nodding even as she closed the door.

Yang waited till the door was closed, then broke out into a large smile. 'it's about time, little sis. you guys will work out just fine.' she turned and began to change.

Ruby sat on the bed, her forehead pressed against her knees, her arms wrapped around her legs, hugging them to her chest. She felt so hollow inside, like someone had taken out more than her heart this time. She couldn't believe she had lost control like that. And she had kissed Weiss! KISSED her! She flinched as she remembered the way Weiss had frozen when their lips touched. How could she have been so stupid! And now, it was far more than just the rejection. After her stunt, how could she ever face Weiss again? And how could she deal with this... thing, inside her?

what frustrated her more than anything was that this was an enemy she had no idea how to fight. It wasn't like some monster she could just kill and it would be over. It was a constant, deep ache of emptiness that sent horrible shivers through her body. Few things could temper the feeling, and only one could make her forget about it entirely, and that was fighting an enemy, something that she could put at fault.

She could feel some emotion other than self loath pushing at her insides, and after a moment, she recognized it. It was anger, but she couldn't figure out what it was directed at. It was the same emotion that had filled her when she had looked into Weiss's eyes, anger, and just the slightest need to put her fist through a wall. She had felt it again when Weiss had come into the bathroom. It had lead her to do what she did. When she kissed Weiss, it had been pushing her to do so much more, and she had had to fight it. She wasn't sure what to do, but she knew she needed to talk or she might explode from the pent up energies inside her. she wondered if this was what her sister felt like when someone touched her hair.

Blake entered the room, an oddly thoughtful expression on her face. She took in Ruby with her golden gaze, but it was distracted, like she wasn't sure exactly what she was seeing. She said "can we talk? Its kind of important."  
>Ruby managed to uncurl herself, nodding slightly. She could hold off on her own questions for now. Blake sat at the edge of the bed next to hers, composing herself before saying "recently, I think I've come to realize something. It was back when we were attacked by those Beowulfs, and the realization that we could have died crossed my mind. I want to act on something, but I wanted to get your opinion... no, your permission, to do it."<p>

Now Ruby was curious, and the slightest bit confused. Blake didn't usually ramble, and she was doing plenty of that now. "Whats this about Blake? You can ask me anything."

Blake swallowed, nervous, and said "I would like your permission... and, if its not to much to ask, your help... courting Yang."

A complex swirl of emotions raged through Ruby when she heard those words. Anger, resentment, happiness, sadness, loneliness, and dozens of others flashed through her like some obscene movie reel. She had to steady herself as she moved to the edge of her own bed. Through clenched teeth, she managed "go ahead, but I can't help you." She stood before Blake could react, sprinted from the room, from the place where the universe was mocking her.

She managed to pull herself together, but by the time she had stopped running, she was outside, standing in the makeshift courtyard in front of the fortresses main building. She stopped by an exposed ammo cache, breathing hard as she fought the urge to howl at the unfairness of it all. Everyone, EVERYONE, had found their other half in someone they not only knew, but that they loved unconditionally. Yet she, lonely, socially awkward, little, young Ruby, she was alone. She had had her fair share of dates in and out of beacon. Because of the fact that most had been scared off by Yang, except Velvet, who had left because it was difficult for her to be around Blake, Ruby had had very few relationships that had lasted longer than 3 months, and even fewer that had made it past the 'dating-friends' area. she remembered the fit Yang had had when she found out Ruby was no longer a virgin. They were still paying off their debt to the poor bar owner.

That being said, none of the people she had dated had ever connected with her on the level she had wanted, no, that she had Needed them to. Then, about a year before graduation, she had found her answer. Weiss. Weiss had always been cold, hard, more of a distant cousin than the sister Ruby had always hoped they could be. And yet, she held an undeniable attraction. Ruby had been fixated, fascinated. She hadn't been able to go a week without thinking "I wish..."

Weiss was always flaunting some new girlfriend about, as if she were trying to show the world that not only was she able to get almost anyone, she could do it in a flash. Ruby had tried several times to work up the courage to confront Weiss during those brief periods where she was without a girlfriend. But each time she finally found her voice, Weiss had found another one. When they had left beacon and made the promise to stay together, she had assumed things would get better. But they got even worse.

Weiss was her usual self on missions, complaining, grouching about in an imitation of an Ursa that just came out of hibernation. Several times, when Ruby had finally gotten her alone, gotten the courage to say what she needed to, she made the mistake of looking into Weiss's eyes. They were cold, dead, sometimes angry. Not once had they ever been as inviting as they had during their first 2 years at beacon. Ruby had eventually given up.  
>Or so she thought.<p>

Something about seeing Pyrrha and Jaune together had sent her spiraling into an abyss that was forcing her to relapse. She deftly touched her lips, where Weiss's had touched, ever so briefly. It had felt good, despite its utter wrongness. After an hour or so, she began the walk back. Fresh snow was falling, and she had left her cloak and hood inside. It was dark, and she shivered. she had burnt out in her run, the energies falling away, leaving the ache. she felt both better and worse. the fire would be back, and she would have to do something when it did, but for now, she decided the best thing she could do was sleep.

When she got back to her room, Blake was asleep, one of her gushy romance novels clutched in her hands as her face made odd movements, living out parts of the book in her dreams. Ruby just lay on the bed and went to sleep. she would deal with it in the morning.

Weiss woke the next morning with a plan. She knew Ruby well enough to know that she would do her damnedest to avoid her after the kiss. Weiss shuddered slightly at the memory. The moment, the feeling, the view. She had to admit, Ruby had grown quite beautiful after her brief (but rather terrifying) bout with puberty. She decided to make it impossible for Ruby to avoid her. She woke 2 hours before Ruby usually did (on the off chance that Ruby had managed to plan that far ahead) and planted herself firmly in front of the door, planning to shove her way in when it opened, or bust it down if it didn't. Of course, there was only one way in and one way out, and Blake wouldn't take kindly to being kept prisoner, so it wasn't like the door could stay closed forever. She was still slightly mad about the whole ordeal. After all, Ruby had been so tempting back then. Yang should have mentioned the mutual attraction to one of them if she noticed. I mean, they had been RIGHT THERE!

She also felt slightly miffed about how Ruby had acted when they had kissed. She had looked almost furious, and Weiss had been able to detect the slight tremors of anger through her soft, comforting lips. It was almost as if she was holding back some sort of urge. Thinking on that, Weiss decided to keep her distance while she explained, lest Ruby be over come with some sexual fit. She smiled slightly to herself as she tried to imagine Ruby doing such a thing. Their shy, corner booth, mechanic leader being so brash. She decided that she probably wasn't in danger from such an act.

3 hours after she had first woke up, the door opened and a tired looking Blake stepped out, barely having time to register Weiss before she shoved past, then reversed direction, closing the door on her confused teammate's face. Blake stood there for a moment, baffled, then finally shrugged and headed down to the army mess hall, all the while trying to decide what to say to Yang. It was going to be a long day.

Weiss glanced around the room, freezing as she took in the sight. Like her own room, the beds stood on a slightly raised section of floor, against the far wall. A floor to ceiling window took up the wall, and through it shined golden sunlight, playing softly over the practical but lavish beds that usually held officers or people of importance. Now, one held a beautiful woman. Her sleeping face was soft and calm, the hard lines of battle, and the always changing signs of laughter and happiness gone, demolished in the moment of blissful sleep. Her breathing was easy, and the whooshing of it, in and out, could be heard across the still room. She was curled slightly on her side, her hands palm up on her left. Her face was curled away from the curve, her mouth slightly open, just enough to let the breaths escape.

Weiss immediately thought of the fairy tail, the sleeping princess, and felt the urge she always assumed the prince must have, slowly approaching the sleeping beauty that was Ruby Rose. As she reached the slightly raised step, Ruby shifted slightly, rolling over onto her back, one hand resting against her chest, the other splayed out, finger twitching slightly. Weiss froze at the change, but after a few minutes, it was clear Ruby wasn't getting up. She continued forward, coming to a stop on the left side of the bed. Ruby looked so fragile, laying there. Weiss, either caught up in the drama of the moment, or out of an actual feel for the story, (she wasn't quite sure, but thought, hoped, it was the later) gently repeated the line from the story.

"Feel my lips on yours, and wake, for we are one and the same with our love..."  
>And she leaned down and placed her lips gently against the soft curves of Ruby's. Of course, with their combined bad luck, Ruby's eyes fluttered open at the contact.<p>

For a moment, she merely stared as Weiss continued, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feeling. Ruby was sure it was a dream. After all, it was picking up pretty much where it had left off. But then Weiss pulled away, her eyes still closed as she continued to feel the echos of her lips. Ruby placed her fingers against her lips, not understanding, not getting it. but she had to make sure this was real. She stood quietly. Weiss's back was to a wall, and she pushed her lips against Weiss's, who's eyes were still closed. That changed quickly. Her eyes flew open, and she made a move as if to push Ruby away. But Ruby wouldn't have it. She wrapped her fingers around Weiss's wrists, pushing her backwards, till she was pressed against the wall.

The kiss had started out as romantic, but it was quickly building heat. Weiss struggled for a moment, but Ruby was stronger than her. and after a few seconds of that wonderful feeling, she didn't want it to stop. She could feel the heat, too, and stopped struggling. Ruby released her wrists, then wrapped her arms around Weiss's neck. Weiss's hands reached up, grabbing for her hair, which was still the same wolf-cut bob she had had in Beacon. After a moment, they had to break away, Ruby gasping for air. She didn't get long though, as Weiss pushed back. Ruby, surprised, took a few steps back, tripping over her feet. She fell backward, landing on the bed, and Weiss, in her excitement, practically jumped on her. They continued where they left off, Ruby's hand traveling down her back to tug at the loose knots that held the back of Weiss's nightgown closed.

Weiss, realizing that, 1; she had lost control of the situation, and 2; she didn't even care anymore, reached behind her to help, starting at the bottom while Ruby trailed down from the top. There were only 5 knots, and their hands met at the last one. Each moved a hand to the others face, and together, they pulled the strings apart. Weiss's night gown fell open across Ruby's chest, revealing her perfect porcelain skin, the only mar, her scar over her left eye. she pulled back, trying to gauge the expression on Ruby's face, afraid to see the fear, rejection, and disgust she thought would occupy her normally perfect features. Instead, she was greeted by a look of both curiosity, and lust. The first she had seen before, but the second caught her by surprise.

Even among the 'sweethearts' she had taken in Beacon, no one, not even Nora, the only other one she had ever been with in such a way, had ever shown such an emotion. Instead of pushing her away, though, it only made her want Ruby more. Weiss's only remaining clothes were a light blue set of underwear, which should have made her quite beautiful, but which she now felt the immediate need to shed. She straightened, her movements becoming hastier as she struggled with the bra strap. After a moment of watching this with an amused expression, Ruby said "here," reaching up and unhooking it in a single try. The bra followed the nightgown, landing with a dull thump on Ruby's ample chest.

Weiss quickly shoved the clothes to the side, impatient to get Ruby's off. Ruby began to get pulled into the enthusiasm, struggling to help Weiss take off her night shirt. After a few seconds of struggling, it went the way of Weiss's clothes. Looking over each others bodies, they began to take in the subtle but defined differences between their 2 bodies. Ruby, having grown almost half a foot since school, was about a half inch taller than Weiss. Weiss's body was less bony than it had been, filling out to match her devastatingly sexy legs. Her breasts had grown as well, but not by much. Her constant work, as well as her weapon preference, meant that her building had gone to slightly different places.

Ruby, on the other hand, had followed her older sister (sort of) in that section. Her breasts, which hadn't exactly been small in the first place, had filled out, and her insistence on wearing her corset often made it hard for Weiss to concentrate during a fight. She slept without a bra, and Weiss could see the hardness of her nipples, although that didn't stop her hands from seeing for themselves. As her fingers gently curled around the soft skin, Ruby let out a low moan, her fantasies from Beacon, and after, having been nothing compared to the actual feel of Weiss's gentle, searching touch.

After a few seconds of this, Weiss once again placed her lips against Ruby's, feeling the perfect curves as the formed against her own. Ruby's hands began to explore again, trailing down the silky smoothness of Weiss's hair, which was outside of its usual clipped tail. She trailed down her back till they came to rest at the hem of her panties. Weiss's own hands were resting against the top of Ruby's sweat pants. however, neither was quit sure what to do. there was a tender, romanticness to their current setting, and somehow, it felt wrong to violate that by going further. After all, neither of them had really been expecting this situation.

Before either could decide how to proceed, the door burst open, and Yang ran in. The 2 girls looked up, ashamed and embarrassed, but Yang didn't even bat an eye. She said "the camp is under attack. you're going to have to put that off till later, girls." she pried open one of the equipment lockers as the partners scrambled to their feet. In one hand she already held Myrtenaster, and she grabbed Crescent Rose out of it's sheath. Once the others were presentable, she tossed them their respective weapons, and they ran out of the room. Ruby busted open a door to one of the rooms with a shattered window, and the girls looked out at the courtyard to the fortress.

Nevermores had swooped in, air dropping soldiers and small Grimm into the court yard. As they looked out, they saw one of the monstrous birds go down as a missile fired from one of the automated defense guns struck its flank. Yang saw Blake down amongst the troops, and jumped from the third floor window, landing beside her. Weiss turned to Ruby, about to say something, but suddenly found herself being kissed... again. This time, it was quick, and as Ruby pulled away, she said "come on. we can talk after." She jumped out the window, Crescent Rose unfurling beside her as she crashed down on top of a Deathstalker that had broken through the weakened section of wall.

Weiss shook her head ruefully, even as she followed suit, thinking 'of all the people in all the world, Ruby Rose, I fell in love with you.'


	3. Forgive And Forget

Ruby rode the Deathstalker into the ground, repeatedly slicing into its thick armor with her scythe. The creature, unable to pay attention to it's surroundings, careened into it's comrades, flattening a small group of Ursas. A pack of Blood Claws, a prehistoric Grimm that had been thought extinct, had swarmed in through the hole the Deathstalker had created. They resembled raptors, standing at just over 4 foot 5 inches tall, white armored skulls sporting 4 glowing eyes and wide jaws, filled with sharp teeth. They had massive claws on their hands and feet, each one at least 3 inches long with serrated edges on the inside. Feathers sprawled down the back of their skulls and along their spines. Powerful muscles propelled them through the air or along the ground.

Yet, despite their killing proficiency and design, they had one significant flaw. They had very weak skin. They had little in the way of natural armor, and when wearing man made armor, they were slowed significantly. They were very common, however, like feral Beowulfs, and often the Descendants used them as mounts instead of fighters. They weren't the only prehistoric Grimm, however. Several giants had been resurrected, some comically named, like Grimmzilla, the Grimmasaurus. However, the giants themselves were no laughing matter. Though much rarer then the foot soldier Grimms, the were also infanently harder to kill. Luckily, they were also absent from the fight... so far.

The girls had restocked on Dust and ammunition upon arriving at the camp, and were fresh from their first real nights sleep in weeks. It also helped that spare caches were scattered throughout the grounds. The group was quickly split up as each headed to an area where they were needed the most. Ruby found herself next to a withered soldier, who, despite his age, was fighting quite effectively next to his younger brothers in arms. He was armed with Hunter class weapons, a pair of short swords, staggered serration covering the inside edges of the straight blades.

Ruby twirled her scythe, slicing through the various Grimms with ease... at first. Though she was well rested, and fully supplied, she could feel herself becoming the focus of the enemy mass in the immediate vicinity. After a few minutes, she realized what that meant. Their controller was nearby. She sent a brief glance to the heavens, and sure enough, watching silently from the sky, was the massive dragon. Her sharp eyes could just barely make out the lines running along it's hide, indicating it's harness.

She was brought back to the situation by a cry. The old soldier had slipped, and an Ursa had his foot in it's mouth. She tried to get to him, but the Ursa had already retreated behind lines of it's smaller cousins. She forced herself to turn away as the old man's cries cut off abruptly. She felt a single hot tear drip down her face, but forced the man from her mind as she flowed through her fighting stances, just like her uncle had taught her. 1, 2 ,4 ,3 ,8. She thought the number of each position as she performed it, locking out her emotions, her attachments, and just focusing on the fighting.

it was what she always did when she was in such situations. She shut down completely, emotional, and let that emptiness become her best friend, her tool, her weapon. Crescent Rose began to taste blood.

Blake was experiencing a slightly different problem, and it was named Yang. First of all, Yang was already battle-drunk, her crazy smile and wide violet eyes her most notable feature. She and Blake were guarding the front of the fortress, tearing apart anything that got close. The soldiers had dispersed to other sections upon realizing that they were actually in more danger around the crazy blond berserker. Yang was fine, of course, and technically speaking, so was Blake. But every time Yang blasted past her, every time she jumped into the air in front of her, Yang's physical... Advantages, always caught Blake's eye. They way her chest strained at her shirt. They way her shorts pressed tightly against the top of her muscular, powerful legs. The tight V shape of the crotch of those same shorts. Blake was almost nailed by a Nevermore because she was caught up in the way Yang's ass moved when she ran.

She was saved, of course, by Nora, who brought her hammer down onto the massive crows skull, crushing it under the weighted end of the weapon. Blake blinked, shaking her head hard. The only way she could protect herself was to get away from Yang, so she took off running, to the crumbled remains of the sagging section of wall. The Grimm forces had stopped coming, but massive numbers were still within the walls. Sky based Grimm dive bombed the battlefield, and she noticed that an abandoned rocket launcher was situated at the top of the 50 foot wall. She calculated the distance, then adjusted her course, coming at the wall at an angle. She hit the base of the wall, jumping and wall climbing around the slight curve of the wall till she lost her momentum.

She unsheathed Gambol Shroud, flinging it up the wall, it's sturdy ribbon trailing behind. The blade cut into the metal, lodging into the wall itself, and Blake managed to pull herself the rest of the way up. When she reached the top, she found a small group of enemy soldiers taking potshots at the military men down in the courtyard. the first was still laughing as she killed him. The others weren't.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Yang's insane laughter cut through the air, her fists finding targets with every punch. She hit an enemy soldier in the shoulder, the blast from her gun actually cutting through enough flesh to amputate the attached arm. It flew through the air, the soldiers screams cutting off as a second punch landed just over his heart, blowing out the back of his ribcage. Grimms converged on her, realizing she was the biggest threat, but Ren and Nora covered her expertly.

Juane and Pyrrha were back to back, spinning in an incredible dance as they moved around each other, slashing, slicing, blades flashing, one silver, one gold. they fit together perfectly in their sequences, each pose flowing into the next. Nothing stood before them. Ren and Nora, on the other hand, were not a smooth waltz, but more of a chaotic tango, explosions ringing their battle site like a rock concert stage. Ren's guns were constantly shifting between blade and pistol, yet he moved with assurance no matter which he was using. Nora was moving with far less grace than before (a consequence of her insistence on her pre-battle drink.) but was swinging with far more power, her hammer impacting with enough force to register as a small earthquake.

After wiping the last of the blood off her weapon, Blake carefully looked over the mounted rocket launcher. It was an RL-46M, one of the best made before things turned to shit. She gave it a once over, making sure it wasn't damaged, then grasping the trigger mechanism gingerly. The trigger was covered by a fixed glove, so in the case of over heating, the metal wouldn't burn the users hand. She had a couple dozen rockets, and she took a few practice shots at the circling sky demons. 2 nevermore went down, their heavy bodies leaving bloody impact craters in the ground. She tried to fire at the dragon, but suddenly a nevermore changed direction in mid-air, as if it had been commanded to. The rocket collided with the massive bird, and the dragon and his rider flew away, out over the plains. A small group of Grimms went after him, looking like an obscene honor guard. She was suddenly aware that the fighting on the ground had stopped.

Weiss was breathing hard, looking regrettably at the body at her feet. She hated killing people, but didn't allow the fact that she had to get in the way of her work. She had read reports of people going crazy from thinking about it to much, and had trained herself to push the thoughts and images away. she looked around at the remains of the courtyard. She saw Blake walking across the floor, examining bodies every here-and-there. Yang was talking to Nora, each with slightly crazed looks in there eyes. Then she saw Ruby. She was kneeling over the body of a soldier.

Ruby opened her eyes, the end of her prayer trailing off as she turned away from the mangled body. Pyrrha was a short distance away, consulting with a small group of soldiers. Jaune was nearby, looking grimly over the carnage, shaking his head. She saw Weiss, their eyes meeting, and Ruby felt a slight warmth light up her chest. She couldn't help the selfish thought that came next. 'At least it wasn't her'. She sighed, then converged on the front steps with the others. Ren was silent, his eyes closed as he meditated on the battle. Though his clothes were still spotless, the others were splattered with various bits of mud, dirt, and blood.

After the body count, they were somewhat relieved that only 3 soldiers had fallen in the battle. However, the rest had all sustained injuries, except the hunters. Nora and Yang were both battle-drunk, and Nora was also actually drunk. (2 shots of Grimm's blood in less than 48 hours will do that to you). Blake was silent, her nightclothes stained deep red by the human blood. Weiss seemed more or less the same as she had when she had jumped out the window. Her battle outfit had changed after leaving Beacon, replaced by a white dress with silver trim, the ruff at the neck the same as on her silver jacket, her family crest adorning her back. The sleeves were tight fitting, but the material was flexible enough to prevent rips.

The chest of the dress was of a slightly lower cut than her school gown had been, showing the beginnings of her cleavage, but still holding onto slightly more than Ruby thought it should. A silver necklace was clasped around her neck, a gift from Ruby from a Christmas during their 3rd year. it was adorned with a combination of her and Weiss's symbols, a red Rose cradled inside a clear snowflake, the whole thing having cost more in a single night than Ruby had ever spent before. It had been meant as a confession, but unfortunately, she had gotten cold feet when Weiss had shown up with a pretty new transfer student (even Ruby and Yang had been somewhat overwhelmed by her looks. Yang had managed to sink her hooks into her shortly after she had been dumped by Weiss.)

The dress also had a train to it, hanging off the shoulders like a cape. The edges were lined with a hand stitched design of swirling snowflakes in a winter wind, and when the cape billowed about, the design seemed to shimmer and shift, creating a winter landscape across her slim back. Shortly after receiving this from her family, Ruby had planned one last present to try and capture her attention. the attempt was currently sitting in the very bottom of Ruby's luggage. The train stopped at about mid-calf, but Weiss often complained that it was heavy and awkward, requiring constant attention in a fight to avoid altering her fighting style.

Ruby's gift was a cloak like her own, though it lacked the workmanship her mother had possessed, it did posses the powers of Ruby's (she hoped. the Dust infused cloth was harder to work with than she had originally thought, and she had wasted several thousand lien on failed attempts before she finally got it right) and could expand and contract as needed. She was waiting for Weiss's birthday to give it to her, but now, she figured, why not? Now was as good a time as any. Or, maybe in a few hours.

The skirt of the dress widened at he waist, pushing out to allow for smooth movement. It resembled her original skirt, zig-zaging around the edge, but the design had been redone with a repeating pattern of her teams symbols, her only real request from the tailor. the colors had been reworked so as to be more prominent while still matching the rest of the dress, cool silver trimming following the edge of the dress. The skirt itself stopped just above the knee, so she could bend her legs without trouble. Underneath the dress, she wore a skin-tight pair of pants, more like leggings, that were a white that matched the dress itself. Ruby couldn't help the slight blush that crept across her face as she looked at the outfit. Like all her other clothes, it showed off her legs wonderfully, although, as stated, she would have liked a little more in the upstairs department.

Blake examined Yang out of the corner of her eye. She was as beautiful as always, though her beauty was marred slightly by her crazed smile and violent red eyes. Even still, she found herself drawn to her, her personality, even her scent drawing her in. Blake's advanced sense of smell could pick out the spicy aroma of her perfume and shampoo, sharp pine needles mixed in with an exotic spice of some sort, something that constantly slipped from her mind, all mixed into the biting odor of gunpowder. It was mildly intoxicating, like the scent of a good wine. Then it clicked. Mixed into the scent was the smell of cedar oils, but not just any cedar. It must have come from the northern mountains. That was expensive stuff, but Blake wasn't going to complain. it smelled right on her.

Jaune stood at the head of the group, Pyrrha attached stoically to his left arm. He was in a brooding mood, something he found himself experiencing more and more often these days. Nora had once joked that the war had made him prematurely middle aged. He was beginning to think she was right. He turned to the group.

"Well, I'll say it again. Welcome to the army headquarters."  
>"It's not like it was unexpected" Ruby responded, managing to tear her eyes from Weiss, who was in turn struggling to not make eye contact with Ruby. "What I think is interesting is that it happened so soon after we got here. Is it possible they knew we were coming?"<br>Yang shook her head, beginning to sober. "I used a triple encoded sequence on that message, and bounced it through half a dozen radio channels. It was untraceable."  
>She glared at Weiss when she opened her mouth, and Weiss suddenly found something very interesting in the concrete at her feet.<br>Jaune had nodded in his agreement, but suddenly he walked away, as if he had forgotten about them completely. Pyrrha gave them a pained glance, then trotted after him. Ren and Nora followed, old habits being hard to break. The remaining group converged. With nothing to say, Ruby motioned them to head inside.

Once there, Ruby turned to the group and said "Weiss, would you do a favor for me? Head upstairs and moved your stuff into my room. I need to talk with them for a moment."  
>Weiss lit up, nodding and sprinting for the stairs. The elevators would be too slow. Ruby watched her go, her eyes fixed on the curves of her body, till she disappeared from view. Yang was confused, giving a quizzical look to her sister. "What about, Ruby?"<br>She wasn't going to try and kid herself about what Ruby would be doing with Weiss. She was half happy, half enraged, but with those emotions, she could not properly express either.

Blake seemed to know, but even she wasn't prepared for Ruby's delivery. "Blake wants to go out with you, and she asked for my help. I know your single right now, so go out with her. If I have to order you to, I will. Now, I'm going to help Weiss move your stuff into Blake's room, and then, if you value your lives, you will leave us alone for the next 24 hours."

She spun on her heel, and, activating her semblance, disappeared, leaving a trail of Rose petals along the path she had taken.

Yang stood there, open mouthed, completely caught off guard. Blake, on the other hand, was either pissed or grateful, since her expressions for those emotions were defined more by her body than her face. Yang had, of course, considered her partner as a possible lover, but had always thought she was straight. Then again, she only knew of 2 of her girl/boyfriends. She knew Blake had (briefly) gone out with Velvet, but had always assumed it had been more of an experiment than an actual relationship, especially after how it had ended. Both Blake and Velvet still had physical scars from the fight.

Blake sighed, turning to her and saying "well, that wasn't exactly what I meant by help, but I guess in the end, she did do me a favor. So? What do you think?"  
>Her voice was filled with restrained hope, but it also seemed like she was prepared for rejection. However, Yang managed to smile. She had to admit, not only had her sister skillfully maneuvered her into a trap, she had left her with, A, no escape, and B, not wanting to escape. If there was one thing Yang was a sucker for, it was a straight forward delivery with a high stakes response.<p>

"I think it's a fantastic idea. And I'm not just saying that. I had an eye on you in school, but I guess I fooled myself into thinking you were straight. Well, at least now I can do what I didn't get to do back then."

And with that, she pulled Blake into a heated kiss. And that was a literal meaning. Yang's body was like a heater blanket, warming Blake's skin while the kiss heated her insides. She was hardly a fast or easy girl, but something about the way Yang made her feel, how comfortable she was to press against, made her not want it to end. With an enormous effort, she managed to pull out of Yang's embrace.

Yang smiled at Blake's gasping breaths. She said "yeah, that tends to happen when people kiss me." she grasped Blake's hand, saying "I can take my time, but let me know if you want to feel that again."

She gave a sly smile, then turned and raced away, like her sister before her, stopping only to wink at Blake from the base of the stairs. Blake managed to catch her breath, then thought 'well, she did say to let her know' before sprinting after her.

Ruby entered the room to find Weiss's bags already in place, Yang's things piled haphazardly by the door. She gave Weiss a quick kiss, then together, they hauled the load into the room next door. Once that was done and over with, Weiss followed Ruby back to their room, shutting the door behind her. She turned, about to ask a question, but suddenly found herself pressed against the door, the girl of her dreams pinning her wrists to the door and kissing her passionately. This time, there was no romantic images to distract them from their goal.

Ruby's battle dress, which Weiss had bought for her (disguised as a group gift, since she had bought battle attire for the whole team. Yang and Blake hadn't been wearing theirs, but Ruby had slipped hers on before the battle.) was decorated with red and black Rose vines, which trailed along the hems. Her red hooded cloak was still in place around her shoulders, 2 cross clasps holding them in place, but otherwise, the whole outfit had changed. The hood, which possessed an ability of expansion or contraction, depending on the situation, which had been granted to the material itself from it's tailorer, Ruby's mother, covered a design that matched the symbol clasped around Weiss's neck, with the exception being that the snowflake was a glossy midnight black material, Rose Rose a blood red that faded to black at the edges, a reversal on the color of her hair. The rest of the outfit was a lighter charcoal black, allowing the snowflake and the Rose to stand out.

The corset was actually integrated into the dress itself, allowing for ease of use. The laces of it were a stark neon red, which went surprisingly well with the colors of the dress. The high collared shirt fitted around Ruby's neck with a surprising snugness, a zipper concealed in the back. The collar was neither constricting nor uncomfortable, made from a silky light material that was both sturdy and comfortable. Instead of a skirt, the dress flowed into a skintight pair of pants, similar to Weiss's, which hugged her body well. The pants were the same black as the shirt, but they had red stripes running down the side of her thighs,which, when looked at closely, would reveal Rose and snowflake designs trailing down the red expanse. The whole outfit actually appeared reminiscent of a knight, with the sleeves ending just above the elbow, baring her muscular forearms.

The outfit was designed for ease of use, and now it showed that, slipping off Ruby's body in seconds. Weiss's was a little harder, what with the knots it used instead of a zipper, like Ruby's, but they managed. In under 5 minuets, each wore only their hastily adorned undergarments. Ruby was rough, practically flinging Weiss onto the bed in her haste. Weiss found that she was enjoying the aggressive side of Ruby, and played the non-verbal submissive, laying still as she allowed Ruby to have her way.

Ruby kissed her again, more fiercely this time, hunger for her new lover over riding her need to check herself. She forced Weiss's lips open, jamming her tongue into Weiss's mouth. One of her hands held Weiss's hands together over her head, while her other hand unhooked the bra strap, then roughly griped Weiss's breast. Weiss gasped at the pressure, not sure if it hurt or if it felt good. She cried out as Ruby's mouth went from kissing to biting, the teeth sinking into her left shoulder, hard enough to break the skin, though the wound itself was minor.

Ruby sat back, a predators smile on her lips, along with the red tint of blood. Weiss had the sudden thought that she was seeing a side of Ruby she didn't even know existed. 'Now i know how Velvet got the bruises'. Ruby licked her lips, clearing the blood from them, then turned her attention to the rest of Weiss's body. Her grip tightened on Weiss, and she cried out again, this time knowing it hurt, but also feeling the pleasure. It was a little odd for her, finding that such small pains held such significant pleasures. She couldn't help the ashamed blush that had flushed most of her face.

Ruby took Weiss's opposite nipple in her mouth, softly nipping at it as she felt it harden. She released Weiss's hands, reaching down and gripping Weiss's left leg, her thumb pressing into the flesh. Weiss was becoming more and more aroused, the treatment showing her just how much Ruby had wanted this, and showing herself just how much she had wanted this as well. Ruby's free hand had slid down her stomach, taking one side of her panties, the massaging hand grabbing the other side, and pulling them down. Weiss was shaved bare (the curtains, unfortunately, matched the drapes, and Weiss had always found that the silver color had a rather unflattering effect.) Weiss's pussy was already wet, the sensitive skin glistening slightly in the light.

Ruby smiled again, this time almost sadistically, and cupped her hand over her target. Weiss spasmed under her. It had been quite a while since anyone but herself had touched her there, and she was very sensitive. The soft skin of Ruby's palm was pressed firmly against her clit, and her middle finger was curled along the crease of her lower lips. However, instead of doing anything, Ruby left her hand laying there, not moving, just teasingly resting. She leaned in, her lips less than an inch from from Weiss's ear, and whispered seductively "ask for it, heiress."

The use of her title, instead of her name, made Weiss shudder, her whole body racked with a single movement. She couldn't stop herself. She said "please Ruby, just do it."  
>Ruby laughed quietly, the sound husky and lustful in the moment, and said "that's not good enough, love. you have to be very' she twitched her finger, and Weiss moaned' specific."<p>

Weiss stuttered, ashamed at what she was trying to say, but finally forced out "please, Ruby, put your fingers in me." she felt a burning in her cheeks and eyes as the words fell out, but Ruby seemed to be satisfied. Her finger curled once, sliding along the ridges, before pushing into the fold. Weiss couldn't stop the gasp of pain at the intrusion. A brief flicker of concern flashed across Ruby's face, but Weiss just shook her head, gulping air as she adjusted to this new feeling.

After a moment, Ruby saw she was alright, and began to move her finger back and forth in a sawing motion. Her slightly calloused knuckles dragged at the flesh, and Weiss began to breath hard, trying to cope with the foreign sensation. She couldn't remember much about what she had done with Nora, but it had been nothing like this. Her skin seemed to be on fire, a burning hot sensation building inside her. Ruby's finger brushed her g-spot, and her breath whooshed out it on ungodly moan, followed by the words "more, Ruby!"

Ruby was happy to comply, her dominating act subsiding for the moment. As her finger continued to caress the inside of her new lover, her other hand traveled back to it's original position, massaging the smooth skin of Weiss's breasts, thumb rubbing against the erect nipples as it switched back and forth from left to right. The sensation was overwhelming, Weiss's thoughts becoming as sporadic as her breathing. How could it feel this good? She didn't know, and quite honestly, didn't care.

Ruby reached down between her legs with her free hand, fingers curling between her legs as she began to masturbate, the sensation matching Weiss's. her own moans began to mingle with Weiss's, and Ruby could only hope the thick walls were enough to cover their sounds. if not, the soldiers were getting one hell of a pick up after the fight.

Weiss was melting, the heat continuing to build into a raging inferno. At one point, she thought 'I wonder if this is how Yang feels when she fights', but the thought had been blasted away by a thrust from Ruby's finger. Ruby was breathing with her, the air around them thick and warm. Sweat was building on their bodies, and Weiss's cries were getting a little louder with each thrust. Suddenly the heat of the fire leaped up, and Weiss gave a final cry as she orgasmed hard, her back arcing upward, her cry cutting off half way, as she came.

She was stuck in that position for what seemed like an eternity, her mind overloaded with the shear force of her ecstasy. Apparently, she blacked out, because when she regained consciousnesses, she found herself covered by one of the blankets, something soft and warm pressed gently against her side. She turned, looking into Ruby's silver eyes. She was surprised. It was dark out, meaning she had been out of it for quite a while. Much longer than she should have been. it was still morning when they had started.

Ruby giggled at her confusion, saying "was it really so good that you passed out, or were you just so tired, you had to sleep?"  
>"Both, i think. That was amazing. Even Nor- I mean, no one else ever made me feel like that."<br>Ruby raised her eyebrow at the slip, but said nothing, snuggling closer. "This feels right. I guess I'm kinda glad it took us this long to find each other. I kinda think it would have been a train wreck if we had tried this back in school. The relationship I mean... not, you know, this" she waved her hand at Weiss's nude form.

Weiss nodded tiredly. She had no doubt that this relationship was more likely to survive thanks to their ages. Suddenly remembering, she said "That's what the necklace was, wasn't it? You were trying to confess."  
>"I was, but was a little intimidated by your girlfriend at the time. Wait a minute, the suit was a confession to, wasn't it?"<br>"I guess Yang was right. We are both unobservant. We should have known. But like you said, I'm glad we didn't."  
>"'m not sure I can say I love you, but I really do, Weiss."<br>"I know, and I love you too. What say we get some rest, and talk in the morning, though? I'm still tired as hell."  
>"Alright. Oh, um. I sort of have a message from Nora. She told me while we were still in school. She told me to tell you this if we ever got together."<br>"Oh? And what was it?"  
>Ruby leaned in close, whispering it in her ear. "You really are a tsundere."<p>

Weiss's defiant shouts woke Yang in the room next door. She sat up, yawning, and said "dam it, whats the shouting about?"

Blake's arm wrapped around her waist, her breasts pressing against Yang's bare back. "Leave them to themselves. I was having a good dream. lets see if i can make it back."  
>Yang turned and kiss Blake, saying "ok."<p>

She curled up with her feline friend, and was soon asleep again.


End file.
